Tales, illustrations, diary

Go your own way

I don’t know very well Fleetwood Mac, but I keep falling in love with Go your own way every time I listen to this song. Today I read the lyrics for the first time and discovered it is a love song, but to me it remains a kind invite to tracing your own path.

I know that you can’t control everything and that you can’t decide your surroundings or background, but I like to feel responsible of what I am and do, for the good and for the bad. Maybe it was this way of feeling that guided my decision to go alcohol free in 2013. I don’t miss alcohol taste and even less being happily wasted together with my friends, because I didn’t really like it. I never used recreational drugs as well and for the same reasons.

Am I different? I suppose I am. Have I made a brave decision? Not really, I am born this way. The only hard part – if you want to call it hard – it was gaining the understanding of my friends. Since I was perfectly healthy and able to drink without harming myself, I had to be mad to give up on alcohol . But they got used to it. Almost everybody can get used to almost everything if you persist long enough with your quirky trait (and it doesn’t harm anyone).

Why am I telling you about my alcohol free lifestyle? Because most of the times when I see on any media an invite to be yourself or be free, or do it your own way, they are suggesting me to do something very conventional. I’d like to know: do you feel the same?

P.S.I was away from home during the Easter Holidays and I didn’t do my homework: no gratitude list or Spartan-like routine and I missed all that very much. This morning I wrote my gratitude list and tomorrow I will resume my morning rituals. I am also going to try a meditation app, starting tomorrow, and I will post about it here, next week. Stay tuned if you like to know more about it and thank you for your time.

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4 thoughts on “Go your own way”

I find your adaptation of this Fleetwood Mac track to fit your “go your own way” philosophy refreshing. And it is brave… and not quirky… to march to the beat of a different drum… e.g. to liberate yourself from that Madison Avenue fueled meme… “everybody else is drinking booze so I, too, must do so.” Not to worry… you’re not alone… I’ve yet to find any alcohol that tastes good to me, either. Another song composer, Graham Nash said it well, “Be yourself… Free yourself” Full song lyrics here: http://www.elyrics.net/read/g/graham-nash-lyrics/be-yourself-lyrics.html

Thank you, I feel a little less alone. Fortunately (or maybe not, it is something more meaningful than simple luck) my husband is just like me about alcohol. Actually, he doesn’t simply “not like alcohol that much”, he can’t stand the smell of it. It makes him nauseous 😀
Anyway, thank you for your time, your comment and the introduction to Nash, another nice discovery 🙂

Really enjoy this post! Thanks for sharing 🙂 I do drink alcohol now and then and I enjoy it. I also like to go on parties and drink a couple of drinks. However, my boyfriend pursues an alcohol lifestyle as well and I experienced his struggles with explaining to others that he prefers to stay away from the drinks. He doesn’t enjoy the taste of alcohol in particular but it was really difficult for him to confront his family with the fact that he has stopped drinking from one day to the other as they enjoy drinking beer in the evening or a glass of wine.

Hello, girl 🙂 Yes, it is not easy to make people understand the choice of an alcohol-free lifestyle. Sometimes they take your decision as a proof that you don’t enjoy their company anymore, that you don’t like to have fun or share moments with them. I don’t know why. It’s like alcohol is some kind of mandatory intimacy tool. Most of the times, you just have to be patient and let time goes by. Give a high five to your boyfriend from me and my husband ^_^

Nina Trema

Hi, everybody!
My name is Annarosa, but you can call me Nina. I'm a writer and a beginner student of Stoicism. When I'm not writing, talking to my cat, or exercising, I like trekking with my husband, listening to music and enjoying the beauty of life.